Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer today called on the Hudson County Superintendent of Elections and the New Jersey Attorney General to conduct a full investigation into allegations of improprieties in Vote by Mail ballots during the November, 2013 election.

Almost 300 Vote by Mail ballots, approximately 22% of the Vote by Mail ballots cast in Hoboken, were rejected by the County Board of Elections due to a variety of concerns including signature match and undisclosed assistance. This large number of rejected ballots has led to an election challenge of the rejection of a ballot initiative proposing changes to the City’s rent control law by 122 votes. If the Superior Court determines that some or all of the rejected ballots should have been counted, then those Vote by Mail ballots will decide the future of rent control in Hoboken.

“Both the Superior Court and the public must have the information they need to evaluate whether the rejected ballots were lawfully cast,” said Mayor Dawn Zimmer. “This issue has seriously eroded the confidence of our citizens in the integrity of our election process, and it is imperative that a full investigation be conducted so that the public can have confidence that proper result has been achieved.”

The ending to the first Hoboken Housing Authority meeting last week is a precursor of what can be anticipated: the most ugly fabrications and most foul unrestrained behavior at Hoboken public meetings in living memory.

If you thought last year with the KKK pillow case references and personal attacks on reform council members at City Council meetings was bad, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Yesterday a letter appeared on Hoboken Patch revealing the latest fusillade of personal attacks and fabrications woven for the wider Hoboken reader on the little read AOL regional site Hoboken Patch. (There is no Hoboken editor anymore.)

The letter by two well known Carmelitos begins with an outright fabrication referencing a resolution amending the bylaws toward a possible reorganization when new HHA members are appointed. From a governmental standpoint, it's standard fare but what emerges from the Carmelitos is anything but.

Councilman Dave Mello, an HHA commissioner is the new focal point in the wrath of the Carmelitos, a compromised group of paid and hope to be paid HHA residents who bow to the will of the head contractor of the federal agency. This is of course the self-annointed head of "his" banana republic mini-state in Assemblyman-elect Carmelo Garcia.

Mello is actually guilty but it's for two minor legislative actions made via motions in the meeting. The second motion to move a February meeting date a few days so a commissioner could attend in person led to the Carmelitos overwhelming the front of the room and encroaching right atop the dais with former Hoboken resident Chris Campos who drove in from the suburbs of Bergen County yelling directly at commissioner Mello all the while.

Last summer, a motion was made in a HHA meeting to introduce a resolution to rescind the ability of members to phone in and participate telephonically. That resolution was introduced immediately upon the early departure from the meeting of one member, Judy Burrell. Now when commissioner Mello attempts to see a minor move of next month's meeting to allow in-person participation, the meeting is stormed by Carmelitos as Carmelo Garcia himself unilaterally (and illegally) ends it.

The Chairman Rob Davis shows he's most capable to dive into the race baiting established by Carmelo Garcia himself in his "ethnic cleansing" lawsuit and speaks about an effort to "oust the black man." (See video below.) Mr. Davis' role as chair is notable like the Carmelitos themselves for the ability to mimic scurrilous race based rhetoric as deployed by Carmelo Garcia.

Chairman Davis quite literally mouths what he is told on the meeting's proceedings with the meeting secretary Carmelo Garcia by his side. The thoroughly compromised current legal counsel Charles Daglian follows reading from ancillary pages of no legal merit in support. This is the same legal counsel who sat mum and allowed Carmelo Garcia last year to tell HHA commissioners they were subject to criminal charges should they fail to approve his annual counsel contract. Then there was this action to suppress an outspoken tenant.

Among a population estimated to be 4,000 are the Carmelitos, a small band of Carmelo Garcia spokespeople who disrupt public meetings in the vein of verbal assaults on former chairman Jake Stuiver, who was guilty of throwing an annual Thanksgiving Dinner for them and attempted to rotate new professionals in the roles of auditor and legal counsel.

Surely, Mr. Stuiver will not miss the ugly venom of anti-Semitism injected from on high and splattered all over the comments section on Hoboken Patch. Congratulations to Mr. Carmelo Garcia, you've truly ethically cleansed yourself.

HHA Chairman Rob Davis (l) follows the HHA contracted head Carmelo Garcia, he of "ethnic cleansing" fame turning an issue of a silenced majority board into a racial issue. The problem among many, Carmelo Garcia is neither a commissioner of the HHA board or black.

Two legal motions from the floor of a board meeting does not "incite a riot," - Carmelitos do.
Two legal motions made over hours of a meeting is not an act to "railroad the meeting."

Mr. Chris Campos may need to provide some less easily dismantled rhetoric for the future when he drives to Hoboken from his Bergen County abode.

The Hoboken community deserves far better.

Here is the Carmelitos letter:

At the Jan. 9 Hoboken Housing Authority meeting, Councilman David Mello attempted to remove the first black chairman of the Hoboken Housing Authority, inciting a riot with the residents of the Housing Authority.

Councilman Mello [who was appointed to the Housing Authority in 2012] attended the meeting with a pocket resolution to change the bylaws of the commissioners, which stated that if during the term of the chair and vice chair of the HHA board of commissioners there occurs a change in the composition of the membership of the board for any reason, then a meeting of the full board must be held within 60 days of the change. At this meeting, by motion appropriately made and seconded and by a vote of the majority of its full membership, the board may remove and replace the board chair and/or vice-chair. In the event such a change in leadership is made, the new officers shall assume office immediately after the vote and shall serve until the expiration of the original one-year term, until they are replaced pursuant to this rule or until they resign. Any newly elected officers whose position was gained by set vote shall be immediately empowered to make any changes to the composition of any sub-committees established by the board that they deem appropriate.

Councilman Mello not only attempted to bully Chairman Davis but also railroaded the meeting. He attempted to obstruct Chairman Davis’ ability to run the meeting as is his duty.

As residents attending and observing what is going on with the political bullying that the city of Hoboken is facing, we must ask:

Did Councilman Mello discuss the resolution at an earlier time with the majority commissioners? The certainty and assurance he had that the resolution would pass by the majority only leaves one to believe that the resolution may have been discussed earlier, whether by telephone conference, in person or electronically. If such a thing did occur then this would constitute a violation of the Sunshine Law and should be addressed immediately.

This is a mirror situation of what occurred at the City Council meeting on Tuesday evening when the minority council members were not provided with a list of potential candidates to serve on a variety of city boards until two minutes prior to voting. When questioned, no one could answer how or when the names were selected and were told they could either vote yes or no as they had a full board to conduct the vote.

As researched by a resident of the HHA, not one member appointed to the city boards is a minority, which serves contrary to the mayor’s inaugural speech of all elected officials working together for ONE Hoboken and being transparent with the processes used in the City’s government. ====Related: For the letter originally published on Hoboken Patch and the screed of anti-Semitic comments by the Carmelo Garcia spokesman, the link is available here.This Horse Sense editorial is dedicated to Jessica Coco who has stood strong in the face of vile criminal attacks and death threats for questioning Carmelo Garcia's unpublished Vision 20/20 plan.